A Walmart spokesperson said the product has been removed from stores. If you have purchased this shrimp, don’t eat it. Dispose of it and visit any Walmart store for a full refund, the spokesperson said.
The FDA has not received any reports of illness related to these products thus far, an agency spokesperson told Consumer Reports. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people are exposed to low levels of Cs-137 on a daily basis, because amounts of Cs-137 are present in the environment from weapons testing in the 1950s and 1960s.
The problem was discovered after U.S. Customs & Border Protection officials detected Cs-137 in shipping containers used by BMS Foods at four U.S. ports. BMS Foods is the U.S.’s largest Indonesian shrimp supplier, according to agriculture intelligence firm Expana.
The FDA tested samples of five shrimp products from BMS Foods and found Cs-137 in a sample of breaded shrimp. The levels in that product were low, but could present a health concern if the shrimp was eaten over an extended period of time, the FDA said in its notice.
The Walmart product was not part of this testing, and the FDA said so far no products for sale in the U.S have tested positive for the contaminant. However, according to the agency, it appears that the Walmart product was “prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with Cs-137 and may pose a safety concern.”
The FDA spokesperson said that the agency is investigating the issue and working with BMS Foods to identify all potentially affected products. The FDA will post more information here as it becomes available.
